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Friday, April 27, 2007
Go To Jail, Get Your Degree
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this week, my colleague Bill Montgomery wrote a story about a teenager who received her high school diploma while doing time for murder — part of his popular “What ever happened to…” series.
What caught my eye was that the article was one of the most-read stories on our Web site that day. I wondered what the draw was. After all, GED programs for prisoners are nothing new.
But maybe people have a visceral reaction to seeing a cold-blooded killer — in this case, a girl who viscously stabbed an elderly couple to death — doing anything that closely resembles life on the outside.
Earlier this month, “60 Minutes” Correspondent Bob Simon reported that prisoners with violent criminal histories are earning degrees from an elite private college in New York. Some are even hoping to receive a Ph.D.
Of course, people will argue that convicts shouldn’t be allowed an education while they’re in the pen. But for those who will be paroled is there a better way to prepare them for release?
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